Puncturing and dispensing device having side piercing element



F. J. TABER Jan. 3. 1956 PUNCTURING AND DISPENSING DEVICE HAVING SIDE PIERCING ELEMENT Filed Aug. 23, 1951 IN VEN TOR. Fred J 7359/ ATT/CPNE l 11 l mm Eng.

u I u 1 United States Patent ce This, invention relates. a device tot dispensing the. Contents of containers. et. the; kind; edanted to. be opened by puneturina the;y same., the. primary obieet: being. to in` elude in Combination with Stroetnre to nuneture a hole in the eonteinen Ineens topieree the. oontainer.; preferably at the side thereof; toA not; only presente. vent operino.

but to mutilateV the containery so that the saine, may not readily be reused.

It is the moet important; Object; of; the. present: invention to improve upon the structures set: forth; inl the: Patent NO- 2,l84,83,0,0f Doce r 2.6, 1;93.9e.r1.d;N9`-. v5.4- 5.5.6, of April 3, 1.951., and to `neludestrueture eapablefof-reo: dering such Priory devices: eoinmerotallv prac hable., In each of the aforesaid prior disclosuregr` there is, provided, manually operable structure for piercing or puncturing a can holding the samein a position for pouring of its contents and channeling such contents,V intoa-A receiver therefor. Such devices have not received public acceptance because of the fact that they are incapable, of so mutilating the can as to obviate the possibility of lre-use.

Referencel is had particularly to crankcase oil that is commonly distributedL in tin cans by service stationswhere the cans 4are opened through use ol' small plllltllring devices and the oilv pouredA into an automobile rjarilccase through use of funnels, measuringfcans andthe like. Oil

rcompanies commonly instruct the service stations to mutilate the empty cans but the practice is seldom followed. Accordingly, oil companies must be on guard at all times to prevent refilling of the cans with low grade oil or other substances. Such unauthorized practitioners utilize machines readily available on the open market to remove the punctured end of the cans and thereupon reseal the cans with new lids.

It is accordingly the most important object of the present invention to provide a device that will rip or tear a vent opening in the side of the can automatically and simultaneously with the puncturing of one end thereof to the end that the can is damaged beyond satisfactory repair for re-use.

Another object hereof is the provision of a combination puncturing and piercing device that includes an actuating lever capable of engaging the can to not only force the same against a puncturing knife, but to shift the can laterally against a piercing or slashing element within the path of travel of the can.

Other objects of the present invention and including the improvements hereof over the aforesaid patents, as well as the art generally, will be made clear or become apparent as the following specification progresses, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a puncturing and dispensing device having a side-piercing element made pursuant to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal, cross-sectional view taken on line lI-II of Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view thereof.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary, transverse, crosssectional view taken on line IV--IV of Fig. 2; and

2,729,360 Batentedl'elano s.

Eig., 5 isa fragmentary, enlarged, transverse, detailed, crossfsectional view taken on line VfVu of' Figl.

The main, support 141` for the device illustrated in the drawing, is preferably U-shaped in cross-section for rigidity' and has one end thereof bent laterally to. present an arcuate handle 12. Meansfor channeling substance from a can or other container 14, to be. pierced and punctured through use of the device hereof', may' include a conven-Y tional funnel 16 secured directlyto one face orthe bight of support 10 adjacenty the normally lowerniost end of the latter. InV actual practice it isnot absolutely essential that the channeling means 16 be formed into` a closed funnel 'as-.- illustrated, but users apparently prefer such construction.

A puncturing element or knife 18, withinthe funnel 16, is held4 in place by screwsor the like 20 serving also to detachably. mount the funnel 16. upon the support 10 and a spacer 22` is interposed between the knife 18 and the proximal faceV of funnel 16 to receive the side wall of the can 14 when the device is placed in use.

A V-shaped, uppermost sharpened edge 24 is formed on the knife 18 and additionally, there is` provided a pair of inwardly extending wings 26 for bending that portion of can 14 that is severed, by the edge 24 when the device is; placed in use. The precise nature of the knife 1S may vary and; accordingly itv is not desired to be limited by the precise formation just above` described.

An elongated opening 28y is formed inthe handle por` tion 1,2 of? the support lll and within the bight ofthe latter for receiving an elongated, arcuate lever 30, a portion 32 of the handle, 12 beingV bent laterallyto limit the extent of swinging movement Of therv lever 30 in one direction. Al cross-pin 5,4; interconnecting the` legs of the handle 12 and.:` passing through the legs` of the, U-.shaped lever 30, swingably secures theV latterto the handle 12. A spring 36 coiled about the pin 34 and; having the ends thereof bearing against the bights of handle 12 and lever 30 respectively, operatesy to, yieldably bias the lever 30 against thestop element 32;.

Cana 14. are conventionally provided; with at least one annular rim 38; and accordingly oneV end of the lever 30 is provided with a hook 4i) on each of its legs for engaging the rim 33 of can 14 in looped relationship thereto. A piercing or ripping element 42 mounted on the bight of support 10 within the path of travel of can 14 may constitute simply a sharpened pin held in place in any suitable manner such as by use of a nut 44. A substantially semi-circular or arcuate stop 46 on the support 10 and preferably immediately below the piercing element 42, stabilizes the can 14 after the same moves to the position illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawing.

In operation, can 14 is positioned within the funnel 16 in the manner illustrated by full lines in Fig. 1 of the drawing and with one end of the can 14 bearing against the uppermost sharpened edge 24 of knife 1S. The operator thereupon grasps the handle 12 and the lever 3i) to swing the latter into engagement with the uppermost end of can 14. As shown by full lines in Fig. l of the drawing, the hooks 40 of the lever 30 move into looped engagement with the rim 38 and as lever 3i) is moved to the dotted line position in Fig. 1 of the drawing, can 14 will be forced downwardly against the knife edge 24, thereby puncturing a hole in the lowermost end of the can 1d. Simultaneously, the upper end of the can 14 will be swung laterally toward and against the piercing element 42 to the position illustrated by dotted lines in Fig. l of the drawing. It is seen that during such movement the rim 38 of can 14 is free to tip or roll within the hooks 46 and that no binding or other operational defect takes place. Continued swinging movement of the lever 30 toward the handle 12 to the position shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing, forces the can 14 still further downwardly until the asf/sasso lowermost edge thereof moves against the upper edge of the spacer 22. As can 14 moves from the dotted line position shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing to the dotted line position illustrated in Fig. 2, a vent opening or slot will be ripped into the side of the can 14 and while the contents of the latter pour into funnel 16, piercing element 42 will extend into the can 14 as illustrated by Fig. 2. It must be appreciated that the precise disposition of the piercing element 42 is not of extreme importance other than the fact that the same should rip the side of the can 14 well below the uppermost end thereof so that any attempt to remove the defect by shortening the can 14 would be readily observed.

At this point it is pertinent to observe that I am well aware of prior devices capable of piercing or puncturing opposite ends of containers automatically and simultaneously, but such devices are not satisfactory for the present purposes for the reason that excess oil clinging to the inner faces of the can 14 after it is emptied, tends to cumulate and run out of the can at either of the two ends thereof. This defect creates a problem since the service station attendant normally inverts the empty can to prevent spilling of the oil in the station and around the pumps and driveways.

Thus, by spacing the opening formed by piercing element 42 from the proximal end of the can, such accumulated oil will not drain from the can after it has been emptied and moved to a point of disposal.

While but one form of my present invention has been illustrated and described, it is to be appreciated that such changes and modifications as fairly come within the spirit of the invention are contemplated hereby. It is accordingly desired to be limited only by the scope of the appended claim.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

For use with a container for liquid having a side wall and a pair of opposed ends each provided with a rim, a combination end-puncturing and side-piercing device comprising an elongated support member of U-shaped crosssection having a bight wall and a pair of leg walls, said member having a lowermost straight portion and a laterally extending handle portion, said bight wall being on the uppermost side of said handle portion, there being an elongated opening in said bight wall in the zone of juncture of said portions; an elongated lever element of U- shaped cross-section having a bight section and a pair of leg sections, said bight section being on the lowermost side of the element, said element being passed through said opening of the member and including a first length disposed below said handle portion of the member and a second length extending from the opposite side of the member; a pivot pin passing through said leg walls of the member in the zone of juncture of said portions and through said leg sections of the element between said lengths to swingably mount the element on the member; spring means yieldably biasing said element in a direction to urge said first length downwardly and away from said handle portion; stop means for limiting swinging movement of the lever in said direction; a downwardly directed funnel mounted on the bight wall of said straight portion adjacent the lower extremity of the latter; an upwardly facing knife mounted on the bight wall of said straight portion within the funnel and adapted for engagement with the lower end of said container within the rim thereof; an imperforate, conical piercing pin mounted on the bight wall of said straight portion adjacent the upper extremity of the latter and adapted for engagement with the side wall of said container adjacent the upper end of the latter; and a hook on the end of said second length of the lever adapted for engagement with the rim of the upper end of the container for forcing the container downwardly and toward said knife and said piercing pin to cause said container to be punctured thereby when the lever is swung against the bias of said spring means in a direction moving said first length upwardly and toward said handle portion.

References Cited inthe tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,393,250 Sharbaugh Oct. 11, 1921 1,960,152 Grundhand May 22, 1934 2,008,219 McPherson July 16, 1935 2,024,875 Punte Dec. 17, 1935 2,024,898 Weltner Dec. 17, 1935 2,056,530 Miller Oct. 6, 1936 2,098,550 Mann Nov. 9, 1937 2,184,830 Boisseau Dec. 26, 1939 2,547,556 Benigar Apr. 3, 1951 

